Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L12/00—Data switching networks
  • H04L12/02—Details
  • H04L12/16—Arrangements for providing special services to substations
  • H04L12/18—Arrangements for providing special services to substations for broadcast or conference, e.g. multicast
  • H04L12/1886—Arrangements for providing special services to substations for broadcast or conference, e.g. multicast with traffic restrictions for efficiency improvement, e.g. involving subnets or subdomains
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
  • H02J—CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
  • H02J13/00—Circuit arrangements for providing remote indication of network conditions, e.g. an instantaneous record of the open or closed condition of each circuitbreaker in the network; Circuit arrangements for providing remote control of switching means in a power distribution network, e.g. switching in and out of current consumers by using a pulse code signal carried by the network
  • H02J13/00006—Circuit arrangements for providing remote indication of network conditions, e.g. an instantaneous record of the open or closed condition of each circuitbreaker in the network; Circuit arrangements for providing remote control of switching means in a power distribution network, e.g. switching in and out of current consumers by using a pulse code signal carried by the network characterised by information or instructions transport means between the monitoring, controlling or managing units and monitored, controlled or operated power network element or electrical equipment
  • H02J13/00016—Circuit arrangements for providing remote indication of network conditions, e.g. an instantaneous record of the open or closed condition of each circuitbreaker in the network; Circuit arrangements for providing remote control of switching means in a power distribution network, e.g. switching in and out of current consumers by using a pulse code signal carried by the network characterised by information or instructions transport means between the monitoring, controlling or managing units and monitored, controlled or operated power network element or electrical equipment using a wired telecommunication network or a data transmission bus
  • H02J13/00017—Circuit arrangements for providing remote indication of network conditions, e.g. an instantaneous record of the open or closed condition of each circuitbreaker in the network; Circuit arrangements for providing remote control of switching means in a power distribution network, e.g. switching in and out of current consumers by using a pulse code signal carried by the network characterised by information or instructions transport means between the monitoring, controlling or managing units and monitored, controlled or operated power network element or electrical equipment using a wired telecommunication network or a data transmission bus using optical fiber
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
  • H02J—CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
  • H02J13/00—Circuit arrangements for providing remote indication of network conditions, e.g. an instantaneous record of the open or closed condition of each circuitbreaker in the network; Circuit arrangements for providing remote control of switching means in a power distribution network, e.g. switching in and out of current consumers by using a pulse code signal carried by the network
  • H02J13/00006—Circuit arrangements for providing remote indication of network conditions, e.g. an instantaneous record of the open or closed condition of each circuitbreaker in the network; Circuit arrangements for providing remote control of switching means in a power distribution network, e.g. switching in and out of current consumers by using a pulse code signal carried by the network characterised by information or instructions transport means between the monitoring, controlling or managing units and monitored, controlled or operated power network element or electrical equipment
  • H02J13/00028—Circuit arrangements for providing remote indication of network conditions, e.g. an instantaneous record of the open or closed condition of each circuitbreaker in the network; Circuit arrangements for providing remote control of switching means in a power distribution network, e.g. switching in and out of current consumers by using a pulse code signal carried by the network characterised by information or instructions transport means between the monitoring, controlling or managing units and monitored, controlled or operated power network element or electrical equipment involving the use of Internet protocols
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
  • H02J—CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
  • H02J3/00—Circuit arrangements for ac mains or ac distribution networks
  • H02J3/38—Arrangements for parallely feeding a single network by two or more generators, converters or transformers
  • H02J3/381—Dispersed generators
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
  • H04L67/01—Protocols
  • H04L67/12—Protocols specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
  • H02J—CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
  • H02J2300/00—Systems for supplying or distributing electric power characterised by decentralized, dispersed, or local generation
  • H02J2300/20—The dispersed energy generation being of renewable origin
  • H02J2300/22—The renewable source being solar energy
  • H02J2300/24—The renewable source being solar energy of photovoltaic origin
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
  • Y02E10/00—Energy generation through renewable energy sources
  • Y02E10/50—Photovoltaic [PV] energy
  • Y02E10/56—Power conversion systems, e.g. maximum power point trackers
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
  • Y02E40/00—Technologies for an efficient electrical power generation, transmission or distribution
  • Y02E40/70—Smart grids as climate change mitigation technology in the energy generation sector
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
  • Y02E60/00—Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y04—INFORMATION OR COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES HAVING AN IMPACT ON OTHER TECHNOLOGY AREAS
  • Y04S—SYSTEMS INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO POWER NETWORK OPERATION, COMMUNICATION OR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR IMPROVING THE ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATION, TRANSMISSION, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT OR USAGE, i.e. SMART GRIDS
  • Y04S10/00—Systems supporting electrical power generation, transmission or distribution
  • Y04S10/12—Monitoring or controlling equipment for energy generation units, e.g. distributed energy generation [DER] or load-side generation
  • Y04S10/123—Monitoring or controlling equipment for energy generation units, e.g. distributed energy generation [DER] or load-side generation the energy generation units being or involving renewable energy sources
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y04—INFORMATION OR COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES HAVING AN IMPACT ON OTHER TECHNOLOGY AREAS
  • Y04S—SYSTEMS INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO POWER NETWORK OPERATION, COMMUNICATION OR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR IMPROVING THE ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATION, TRANSMISSION, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT OR USAGE, i.e. SMART GRIDS
  • Y04S40/00—Systems for electrical power generation, transmission, distribution or end-user application management characterised by the use of communication or information technologies, or communication or information technology specific aspects supporting them
  • Y04S40/12—Systems for electrical power generation, transmission, distribution or end-user application management characterised by the use of communication or information technologies, or communication or information technology specific aspects supporting them characterised by data transport means between the monitoring, controlling or managing units and monitored, controlled or operated electrical equipment
  • Y04S40/124—Systems for electrical power generation, transmission, distribution or end-user application management characterised by the use of communication or information technologies, or communication or information technology specific aspects supporting them characterised by data transport means between the monitoring, controlling or managing units and monitored, controlled or operated electrical equipment using wired telecommunication networks or data transmission busses
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y04—INFORMATION OR COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES HAVING AN IMPACT ON OTHER TECHNOLOGY AREAS
  • Y04S—SYSTEMS INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO POWER NETWORK OPERATION, COMMUNICATION OR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR IMPROVING THE ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATION, TRANSMISSION, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT OR USAGE, i.e. SMART GRIDS
  • Y04S40/00—Systems for electrical power generation, transmission, distribution or end-user application management characterised by the use of communication or information technologies, or communication or information technology specific aspects supporting them
  • Y04S40/18—Network protocols supporting networked applications, e.g. including control of end-device applications over a network

Definitions

• Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to a method and system for aggregating messages, and, more particularly, to a method and system for aggregating messages communicated from a distributed energy generator.
• DGs distributed generators
• solar power systems generally comprise large numbers of photovoltaic (PV) modules that convert solar power received into a direct current (DC).
• PV photovoltaic
• AC alternating current
• various messages may be generated by one or more components of the system and communicated to a central processor/controller in order to provide information for real-time monitoring of the health and status of the system.
• inverters within the solar power system may generate alarm messages, status messages, and/or similar information messages to indicate various events and equipment states.
• Such messages may be communicated to the central processor/controller and displayed for real-time monitoring; additionally, such messages may be maintained in a history log, for example, within the central processor/controller, for generating history reports as well as for performing long-term analysis.
• a single event or condition may trigger a large volume of messages of the same type occurring at nearly the same time.
• a sudden change in solar irradiance across the system may trigger the same alarm message to be generated by each of the inverters and communicated to the central processor/controller.
• Such a large volume of messages pertaining to the same event or condition makes both history reports and long-term analysis more cumbersome, as well as reducing the efficiency of real-time monitoring.
• Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a method and system for aggregating messages.
• the method comprises obtaining, at a controller, a first plurality of messages related to operation of a distributed energy generator; generating, at the controller, a second plurality of messages from the first plurality, wherein each message in the second plurality has a start-time within a first time window; and generating, at the controller, a third plurality of messages from the second plurality, wherein each message in the third plurality has an end-time within a second time window and is associated with an indicia of a message group.
• Figure 1 is a block diagram of a distributed energy generation system in which generated messages may be aggregated in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention
• Figure 2 is a block diagram of a controller in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention
• FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a master controller in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention.
• Figure 4 is a flow diagram of a method for aggregating messages in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention.
• FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a distributed energy generation system 100 ("system 100") in which generated messages may be aggregated in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention.
• the system 100 comprises a plurality of distributed generators (DGs) 102i, 102 2 , ... 102 n , (collectively referred to as DGs 102), a plurality of controllers 104i, 104 2 , ..., 104 n , (collectively referred to as controllers 104), a master controller 108, and a communications network 1 10.
• the controllers 104 and the master controller 108 are communicatively coupled via the communications network 1 10, e.g., the Internet.
• the DGs 102 (i.e., distributed energy generators) generate power from a renewable resource, such as solar energy, wind energy, hydroelectric energy, and the like.
• a DG 102 is comprised of a plurality of PV modules coupled to one or more inverters for inverting the generated DC power to AC power; for example, each PV module may be coupled to an individual inverter in a one-to- one correspondence.
• a DC/DC converter may be coupled between each PV module and each inverter (e.g., one converter per PV module).
• multiple PV modules may be coupled to a single inverter (i.e., a centralized inverter); in some such embodiments, one or more DC/DC converters may be coupled between the PV modules and the centralized inverter.
• the DGs 102 may comprise DC/DC converters coupled to the PV modules for generating a DC current that may be utilized directly or stored, for example, in one or more batteries.
• one or more of the DGs 102 may additionally or alternatively comprise a plurality of wind turbines, as in a "wind farm", or components for generating DC current from any other renewable energy source, as well as one or more DC/DC converters and/or one or more inverters.
• Each DG 102i, 102 2 , ..., 102 n is coupled to a controller 1 (M 1 , 104 2 , ..., 104 n , respectively, in a one-to-one correspondence
• the controllers 104 collect messages generated by components of the DG102 that provide information on the health and state of the DG 102, such as alarm messages, status messages, and the like. Such messages may be generated at various levels of granularity; for example, for a DG 102 comprising a solar energy system, messages may be generated for one or more individual PV modules, solar panels, DC/DC converters, and/or inverters, as well as for the entire DG 102.
• the collected messages are communicated from the controllers 104 to the master controller 108 and may be displayed and/or stored, e.g., within the controllers 104 and/or the master controller 108, for subsequent data analysis and/or report generation.
• the master controller 108 may correlate the collected messages from one or more DGs 102 such that a plurality of messages pertaining to a single event or state may be aggregated into a correlated group.
• Each message within the correlated group may be associated with an indicia of a message group, as described in detail below, such that the correlated group of messages may be identified and represented by a single message in a history report, at a user display, and the like.
• stored messages may be retrieved to perform the aggregation; alternatively, messages may be aggregated in real-time.
• the controller 104 may perform the message aggregation for messages from the corresponding DG 102.
• the controller 104 may perform the message aggregation in real-time prior to storing the messages and/or transmitting the messages to the master controller 108; alternatively, the controller 104 may retrieve the messages from storage to perform the message aggregation.
• message aggregation may be performed in addition to or as an alternative to the message aggregation described below.
• certain types of messages such as certain types of event messages, may be hidden from view based on the nature of the message (e.g., if the message contains no actionable information for a user).
• certain types of messages such as certain types of event messages, may only exposed to users once they have been escalated in severity, for example, by being present/open for a given period of time or when a set number of occurrences of a message type are detected within an installation.
• FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a controller 104 in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention.
• the controller 104 comprises a distributed generator (DG) transceiver 202, a master controller (MC) transceiver 204, at least one central processing unit (CPU) 206, support circuits 208, and a memory 210.
• the CPU 206 is coupled to the DG transceiver 202, the MC transceiver 204, the support circuits 208, and the memory 210, and may comprise one or more conventionally available microprocessors. Alternatively, the CPU 206 may include one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs).
• the support circuits 208 are well known circuits used to promote functionality of the CPU 206.
• Such circuits include, but are not limited to, a cache, power supplies, clock circuits, buses, network cards, input/output (I/O) circuits, and the like.
• the controller 104 may be implemented using a general purpose computer that, when executing particular software, becomes a specific purpose computer for performing various embodiments of the present invention.
• the DG transceiver 202 communicates with DG 102, for example to obtain the messages generated from the DG 102.
• the DG transceiver 202 may be coupled via power lines to one or more inverters within the DG 102, and may communicate with the inverter(s) utilizing Power Line Communications (PLC).
• PLC Power Line Communications
• the controller 104 may communicate with the inverter(s) utilizing wireless or wired communication methods, for example a WI-FI or WI-MAX modem, 3G modem, cable modem, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), fiber optic, or similar type of technology.
• wireless or wired communication methods for example a WI-FI or WI-MAX modem, 3G modem, cable modem, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), fiber optic, or similar type of technology.
• the MC transceiver 204 communicatively couples the controller 104 to the master controller 108 via the communications network 1 10 to facilitate the management of the DG 102 (e.g., for providing the collected messages to the master controller 108).
• the MC transceiver 204 may utilize wireless or wired techniques, for example a WI-FI or WI-MAX modem, 3G modem, cable modem, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), fiber optic, or similar type of technology, for coupling to the network 1 12 to provide such communication.
• the memory 210 may comprise random access memory, read only memory, removable disk memory, flash memory, and various combinations of these types of memory.
• the memory 210 is sometimes referred to as main memory and may, in part, be used as cache memory or buffer memory.
• the memory 210 generally stores the operating system 212 of the controller 104.
• the operating system 212 may be one of a number of commercially available operating systems such as, but not limited to, SOLARIS from SUN Microsystems, Inc., AIX from IBM Inc., HP-UX from Hewlett Packard Corporation, LINUX from Red Hat Software, Windows 2000 from Microsoft Corporation, and the like.
• the memory 210 may store various forms of application software, such as DG management software 214 for managing the DG 102 and its components, as well as a database 216 for storing data pertaining to the DG 102 (e.g., message from the DG 102).
• the memory 210 may further store a message aggregation module 218 for aggregating the messages from the DG 102, as described in detail below with respect to Figure 4.
• message aggregation allows a plurality of messages pertaining to the same event or state to be identified as a correlated group by an indicia of a message group, for example, by storing an association between the indicia and each message in the correlated group in the database 216.
• FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a master controller 108 in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention.
• the master controller 108 comprises a transceiver 302, support circuits 306, and a memory 308 coupled to at least one central processing unit (CPU) 304.
• the CPU 304 may comprise one or more conventionally available microprocessors. Alternatively, the CPU 304 may include one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs).
• the support circuits 306 are well known circuits used to promote functionality of the CPU 304.
• Such circuits include, but are not limited to, a cache, power supplies, clock circuits, buses, network cards, input/output (I/O) circuits, and the like.
• the master controller 108 may be implemented using a general purpose computer that, when executing particular software, becomes a specific purpose computer for performing various embodiments of the present invention.
• the transceiver 302 communicatively couples the master controller 108 to the controllers 104 via the communications network 1 10 to facilitate the management of the DGs 102, for example for operating the controllers 104 and/or components of the DGs102. Additionally, the master controller 108 receives messages from the DGs 102 via the controllers 104.
• the transceiver 302 may utilize wireless or wired techniques, for example a WI-FI or WI-MAX modem, 3G modem, cable modem, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), fiber optic, or similar type of technology, for coupling to the network 1 10 to provide such communication.
• the memory 308 may comprise random access memory, read only memory, removable disk memory, flash memory, and various combinations of these types of memory.
• the memory 308 is sometimes referred to as main memory and may, in part, be used as cache memory or buffer memory.
• the memory 308 generally stores an operating system 310 of the master controller 108.
• the operating system 310 may be one of a number of commercially available operating systems such as, but not limited to, SOLARIS from SUN Microsystems, Inc., AIX from IBM Inc., HP- UX from Hewlett Packard Corporation, LINUX from Red Hat Software, Windows 2000 from Microsoft Corporation, and the like.
• the memory 308 may store various forms of application software, such as system management software 312, for managing DGs 102 (e.g., for collecting and storing messages from the DGs 102).
• the memory 308 also may store various databases, such as a database 314 for storing data related to the system 100, such as the messages from the DGs 102.
• the memory 308 may further store a message aggregation module 316 for aggregating the messages, as described in detail below with respect to Figure 4.
• Such message aggregation allows a plurality of messages pertaining to the same event or condition to be identified as a correlated group by an indicia of a message group, for example, by storing an association between the indicia and each message in the correlated group in the database 314.
• the indicia may then be utilized to identify the correlated group in order to generate a single message or notification for representing the correlated group, for example, in history reports, a display at a user interface, and the like.
• FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a method 400 for aggregating messages in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention.
• alarm messages are aggregated such that a plurality of alarm messages pertaining to the same event may be represented by a single message or indication, for example, in a history report, at a user's display, within a database storing the alarm messages, and the like.
• Such alarm messages (“alarms") may be generated, for example, within a DG of the system 100 and communicated to a controller, such as a controller 104 and/or the master controller 108.
• other types of messages such as warnings, alerts, status messages, and the like, may be aggregated.
• Message aggregation may be performed utilizing messages generated within one or more DGs (e.g., by inverters, DC/DC converters, and/or any other components that generate messages), or any device or system that generates any of the aforementioned messages.
• a computer readable medium comprises a program that, when executed by a processor, performs the method 400 for aggregating messages as described in detail below.
• other types of message aggregation may be performed in addition to or as an alternative to the message aggregation described below.
• certain types of messages such as certain types of event messages, may be hidden from view based on the nature of the message (e.g., if the message contains no actionable information for a user).
• certain types of messages such as certain types of event messages, may only exposed to users once they have been escalated in severity, for example, by being present/open for a given period of time or when a set number of occurrences of a message type are detected within an installation.
• the method 400 begins at step 402 and proceeds to step 404.
• alarms are retrieved from storage; alarms occurring during a pre-determined period of time may be retrieved, or, alternatively, a user may specify the time period for retrieving alarms. In some alternative embodiments, alarms may be processed utilizing the method 400 in real-time and/or prior to storing the alarms.
• a message aggregation module such as the message aggregation module 218 within the controller 104, or the message aggregation module 316 within the master controller 108, sorts the alarms by alarm type.
• the message aggregation module selects a particular alarm type and, at step 410, sorts those alarms of the particular alarm type by the corresponding start-time to generate time- ordered alarms.
• the method 400 proceeds to step 412, where the message aggregation module evaluates the start-times of the time-ordered alarms and, at step 414, determines whether the time-sorted alarms may be aggregated into alarm groups. Such a determination may be made, for example, based on a number of time-sorted alarms and/or the start-times of the time-sorted alarms. If the result of the determination at step 414 is no, the method 400 proceeds to step 418; if the result of the determination at step 414 is yes, the method 400 proceeds to step 416.
• the message aggregation module aggregates the time-sorted alarms into alarm groups based on the alarm start-times.
• alarm groups may be created such that each alarm within the alarm group has a start-time occurring within a first window (e.g., a 15-minute window), for example, by utilizing a sliding window.
• a first window e.g., a 15-minute window
• an indicia of the alarm group may be associated with each alarm in the alarm group for identifying the alarm group.
• the indicia may be associated with the corresponding alarms and stored, for example, in the database 216 and/or the database 316, along with the corresponding alarms.
• step 418 a determination is made whether there are additional alarm types to be processed. If the result of such determination is yes, the method 400 returns to step 408; if the result of such determination is no, the method 400 proceeds to step 420.
• step 420 a determination is made whether any alarm groups have been created. If the result of such determination is no, the method 400 proceeds to step 434 where it ends; if the result of such determination is yes, the method 400 proceeds to step 422.
• the message aggregation module selects a particular alarm group.
• the message aggregation module evaluates the end-times of the alarms within the selected alarm group and, at step 426, makes a determination whether alarms are to be disassociated (i.e., removed) from the alarm group.
• alarms are to be disassociated from the alarm group if their end-times are not within a second window of others in the alarm group; for example, alarms with end-times not within 15 minutes of others in the alarm group may be disassociated from that alarm group.
• step 426 If the result of the determination at step 426 is no, the method 400 proceeds to step 432; if the result of the determination at step 426 is yes, the method 400 proceeds to step 428, where the appropriate alarms are disassociated from the alarm group.
• an alarm may be disassociated from the alarm group by removing its association to the indicia for the alarm group.
• the indicia maybe utilized to identify the correlated alarms remaining in the alarm group (i.e., a correlated group).
• correlated alarms may be represented by a single message or indication for alarm reporting, alarm display, and the like.
• the correlated alarms may be replaced by a single message or indication within the database 216 and/or the database 314.
• the method 400 proceeds to step 430, where the disassociated alarms are aggregated into a new alarm group by associating such alarms with a new indicia of the new alarm group.
• the method 400 returns to step 424 to determine whether any alarms should be disassociated from the new alarm group.
• step 432 a determination is made whether there are any additional alarm groups to process. If the result of such determination is yes, the method 400 returns to step 422; alternatively, if the result of such determination is no, the method 400 proceeds to step 434 and ends.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Power Engineering (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Medical Informatics (AREA)
• General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Computing Systems (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Remote Monitoring And Control Of Power-Distribution Networks (AREA)
• Testing And Monitoring For Control Systems (AREA)
• Alarm Systems (AREA)
• Debugging And Monitoring (AREA)
• Supply And Distribution Of Alternating Current (AREA)
• Selective Calling Equipment (AREA)
• Telephonic Communication Services (AREA)

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